Everyone had set up camp very close to Zanarkand. Tidus was standing on a hill, looking at all the damage. This wasn't the Zanarkand he knew. He could now believe in what everyone was saying. It was in shambles. It was in ruins. It was a thousand years old, abandoned and left for the wandering spirits. The sun was beginning to set, giving off that warm orange glow. It was like a desert of tall buildings out there. Melanie went to his side and looked out there as well.
"You know, when I first got here, I saw what I was expecting. Traveling with dad and Braska got me thinking. What if there was a way I could stop all this before anyone else would suffer the same fate? The final aeon always takes the life of the summoner. No stopping that... But... what if we killed off the source and did something different? And I found out why we couldn't have done all this..."
Tidus glanced at her with no expression.
She looked at him. "We were missing something that you all have now. This is why you are the ones to do it. Not us back then. We had no way of getting in the shell."
"Of sin?" he asked, almost in a hushed tone.
Melanie nodded and looked on back out there at the ruins. "I have someone else to talk to in hopes to bringing up his spirit." She patted his back. "I am proud to have you as an annoying brother that loves me. Take your time out here. I know this must be painful. It was for me as well as Dad."
Her hand dropped and she moved on, but his words made her stop in place.
"You aren't just a vessel..." He watched her stay still, not facing him. "You can laugh, cry, have fun, bleed... even love the stick in the mud! It hurt to hear that more than me being a dream... Hey... Does that mean, Yuna can see me at the Farplain then?"
Melanie hesitated for a moment. "Yes... It does, actually... She won't give up on you."
She went on back down below to the others as they sat around a campfire. She stood in front of Auron. He looked up slightly at her with a tired glance and what seemed to be, a bit of guilt.
"Would you like to talk?" She tilted her head. "I never seen you this down before. It doesn't have to be here either. It can be private."
He slowly stood, trying to keep his balance. Melanie furrowed her brows at this in question. Perhaps he was just really tired? They had gone a long way without any rest until now. Strange though how Kimahri and Wakka seemed just fine. No one else for that matter seemed to be this tired other than Auron. Once he started walking away from the others, she followed behind him. She could pick up a light scent from him. She sort of recognized the smell, but she had a hard time believing it. Auron doesn't drink... Does he? Her eyes gazed on his jug at his side.
He stopped once he thought they were far enough. Melanie moved around him to face him. Her arms crossed and her lips were pressed together. One brow raised. He didn't quite get it... yet.
"Is it because we will be running into something you don't want to see again?" she asked him, keeping her voice calm while not displeased with his decision.
He looked a bit lost there, unsure how to respond to that.
"Did his habits get a hold of you?" She eyed that jug again.
Finally he got it. Auron shook his head and mouthed out the word no.
Melanie couldn't resist smiling when he slightly wobbled. "What level would you say you are at? One to five."
"Level?" he questioned.
"The first level." She held out one finger. "You believe you will be ok for another round. You feel not so intoxicated yet. The second..." She brought up another. "You think it's now starting to get at you but you challenge yourself followed by not thinking well which can lead to say out loud things you normally avoid doing. The third, everyone is your best friend. Maybe you will buy a round for everyone in the bar. The fourth, you hate everyone. The fifth..." She put her hand down to her side. "Soon as you step outside that bar by early morning, you are greeted with God's flashlight... and you know when you went too far."
"Flashlight?" he questioned once more.
Melanie nodded. "The rising sun... When you been drinking way too much. So what level would you say you are at?"
It took him a while to think. He lifted his jug off his belt and gave it a swirl to feel how much was left. "Umm."
"I think I will say about three?"
"I'm not that intoxicated..."
"Put that down or I will take it from you."
He eyed her. "I would like to see you try."
Her look became a bit more serious and direct. He slowly set it back down in place. Maybe those habits did get to him. He was unsure. He knew why he had it around to begin with. Melanie was right. He did let it get a bit out of hand. He did feel pretty buzzed.
"You know, you were so happy back there... Why are you like this now?" Her serious look softened. "Was it all for nothing?"
Auron started to feel a bit guilty on that. He was happy in that snowball fight. What he kept hidden well was the fact that he was still stressing. It was all coming down to this. But why was he stressing? It couldn't have been this reason... He knew what she was doing. He knew things were going to turn out alright. He trusted her, after all.
"Auron," she pleaded a bit at him, wanting to break that long silence after watching him think. She knew he was.
He slowly wobbled up to her and hugged her. His arms were a bit tight around her. Something in her told her he was feeling scared, but why? She let her arms hug around him underneath his haori.
"It's me, isn't it," she lightly said just loud enough for him to still hear. She let out a silent sigh. "I'm still trying to figure out who I am and I never did ask for this. I feel like I am only stressing you more with my very presence."
"Damnit, you are not ruining anything." He had to keep himself steady when he moved off her to look at her. "I'm an asshole, I get it, but I act that way to keep everyone moving, to strengthen them by me sounding harsh."
"And they get it! You don't need to drive them anymore. We come this far. We can't just back out now. Yuna understands this and they all seem to believe in me. You are sweating..."
He wiped his forehead without second guessing. She was right, he was starting to shine a bit. His breathing became a bit more heavy. He undid his belt and let his haori slide off him thinking that should help cool him down. He felt that heat rise in his upper body. He didn't care that Melanie seemed to have been caught off guard there.
"Do you need to lay down?" she asked him a bit concerned sounding.
He just looked at her without answering. He did seem pretty out of it. Maybe he didn't know, though. He wasn't even knowing what he was doing. He was too intoxicated to realize his arms went around her and his lips met hers deeply. She almost flinched, not at all liking the taste in his mouth. To her, it was horrible, but she didn't push him off. His collar was bothering her though, being just right under her chin. She tugged that down to keep from getting in the way of his sloppy kiss she was rather enjoying. She heard him growl a bit low and yank his collar open in the front. She didn't know it could do that. That thought left when he pressed himself up against her.
She had to move her mouth off his to talk. "Auron, wait." She didn't mean for that to sound a bit hushed and breathless.
However, he didn't want to wait. His mouth trailed down her neck, tasting every bit of skin he could lick and suck. They were light sucks which caused her to moan slightly to them. He was drunk and she wanted him to stop, but for some reason, she couldn't resist. She could feel one of his hands trying to slip under her own cloak trying to find the bottom of her shirt.
She pressed her hand right up against his to stop him there. "Listen to me."
He whined in protest, but he did come to a halt.
"You are drunk. I can't have you do this and regret something you have a high risk of not remembering what you've just done..."
"I won't regret it," he murmured, sounding a bit pleading as well. He was like a child, not getting what he wanted.
His hand slid away from hers, wanting to trail up her skin. She didn't prevent him any further. If anything, she would be glad to prove him wrong, even if he were the one to make a move. Melanie knew this was wrong, yet she was feeling the very same thing he was. It was difficult to fight back. She wanted to, but his touches were too pleasant to push away. Auron felt himself sliding on downward to his knees and he pulled her on down with. He was beginning to look exhausted. Maybe it was the alcohol talking, but he seemed to have a bit of a forming bulge. Melanie could feel that right between her legs. Melanie didn't get up or slap him in the face. She did want to do that, but at the same time she wanted to push him on the ground and turn up the heat. The hand up her shirt grabbed a hold of her chest, giving her breast a squeeze.
"Oh!" Rikku wasn't expecting to see this after wandering off to search for them out of curiosity.
Her voice caused both of them to look at Rikku, who was at a distance, yet her voice was loud enough to hear. Melanie's action was more quicker than Auron's in shock. Rikku had her face covered with her hands, holding back laughter. Melanie stood herself up with haste and fixed her shirt. Her face was flushed red with both anger and embarrassment. Auron, however didn't get up. He more looked like he wanted to just pass out where he sat and go into a deep slumber. He didn't at all looked a bit disturbed from Rikku's interruption.
Melanie helped Auron on up while Rikku ran off back to camp. Not a word came from either of them along the way. She let Auron down by the fire, making sure his back was up against the rocks. Right away, he passed out. He wasn't a drinker at all and he was hit hard by the effects. If Jecht was here, he would be laughing at him, telling him he needed to drink more and often. While Auron slept, she went to get his haori they left on the ground. Rikku decided to tag along with her.
"Sorry about that," Rikku told her. Her smile could not leave her face.
Melanie picked up the red robe. "It's fine... If anything, it was both of our faults for... trying to get a bit frisky out here and..."
"Maybe out here isn't such a good idea."
"Hey, I wanted him to stop!" Melanie shrugged. "I guess I just got too caught up in the moment..."
"You can't let temptation get the best of you," she teased at Melanie with a sing song like voice and a light giggle.
"Try having dreams like that where location is nothing, but the feel of it and... well..."
"You had a few dreams like that, huh?"
Melanie nodded. "But what sucks about dreams is all feeling is left out..."
"Actually... Sometimes you can feel something in your dreams."
Melanie shook her head. "I feel nothing... in any of them. No pain, no happiness, not even touches..."
"What about fear?"
Melanie didn't answer that one. She may have not felt fear in her dreams at times, but her brain could make her feel it all as she slept. Her actual body feeling the pain her dream portrays and displays, making her uncomfortable and completely uneasy having the stress build and build. She walked back over to camp and set the robe on Auron's legs. Melanie sat next to him and stared into the fire.
Everything was pretty quiet till nightfall. Tidus was recalling memories he wanted to share with them all in hopes to bring up their spirits. Melanie poked Auron.
"Time to wake up." She tapped his face now. "Come on, we gotta get moving."
Melanie helped him up as his soft look morphed to an agitating one. He rubbed his head with a groan.
"Is this what Jecht went through?" he mumbled a bit quietly, feeling that pulsing headache.
"Only when he drank heavily. We need to get moving. Yuna wishes to continue on."
He slightly nodded and got his haori back on himself. Their journey continued onward till they finally reached the dome. It was one silent travel to the dome. Melanie ignored the man who appeared at the entrance who asked of Yuna to see the long journey she has made from her eyes. Her eyes were the gateway to her story, everything that she has ever went through during her adventure. Once they were allowed through and entered the dome, the atmosphere changed dramatically. What seemed so calm, turned eerie.
"If it might benefit the future of Spira, I will gladly give my life. It is the highest honor for which a guardian might ask. Use my life, Lady Yocun, and rid Spira of Sin."
It was a very strange sight to see a memory play out from someone many years ago, like projecting ghosts, a guardian willing to give their life to try to save a world hopefully forever. It was a dream everyone wanted, even back then.
"What... what was that?" Rikku asked, sounding a bit terrified.
"Our predecessors," Auron answered her simply.
Melanie didn't want to listen to the rest. She knew this place was like one massive sphere, holding in memories for all of time. She moved on. She looked rather disappointed, but why? She stopped in front of an image of Seymour as a child. He was crying... It didn't take long for anyone really to catch up to see this event themselves. His mother was to become a fayth for him to use. She would not back down.
"And now you all know why this man became so broken in the future... It wasn't the lack of a parent, it's what she did in the first place that sort of... corrupted his mind in trauma. If her actions would have been in a different format, he might have been not so bad... But that is just my theory..."
Melanie moved on before anyone could ask her, what that was all about.
"Perhaps his mother was already dying," Lulu said, speculating on the thought.
"Maybe..." Melanie looked down the bridged path.
It took only moments before everyone watched Braska and his guardians run on by ten years ago as a memory. Melanie was starting to become uneasy with this. She knew what was coming up real soon. Her gaze looked directly at Auron before she walked down into what should have been the trials. It looked broken down and nothing seemed to have been working. The spheres were already in place and the platform was there. Maybe, for once, they caught a break. She didn't bother to step on it though. She didn't remember this from ten years ago. Unless if someone managed to actually break it, she was a bit happy, no matter what the real answer was. Her happiness left right away once Yuna stepped on that platform to be taken down below.
"Why didn't we stop her?" Tidus said loudly enough for everyone to hear.
"She needs to see this for herself," Melanie answered him.
"See what?" he asked her.
Melanie waited for just a few moments before finally hearing what she was hoping to hear from Jecht, ten years ago. "There is no final aeon." She smiled a bit.
"What?!" It's not something Tidus wanted to hear, but in a way he felt grateful for it. No final aeon meant Yuna wouldn't die, right?
When Yuna returned above and called to everyone, they joined her on the way down. The covering of the fayth was cracked and the statue itself was a mere empty shell.
"This isn't a fayth. It's just an empty statue," Yuna explained to them.
A portal shaped door formed before them and an elderly man came out to explain a bit further. "That statue lost its power as a fayth long ago. It is Lord Zaon, the first fayth of the final summoning."
"And I know why its power is lost and why this is just a shell... Why there is no final aeon that once was brought through him... I think I am done hiding all this now," Melanie butted in.
"I see you have returned," the old man told her. "Though you know there is a way. Lady Yunalesca will show this summoner the path. The final aeon will be hers."
"And she is waiting for us... Thank you, old man..."
It almost seemed like Yuna was hesitating after the old man had let himself disappear. She kept her back to everyone. "I trust you," was all she could mutter out before finally stepping inside to the chamber, where then everyone else followed right behind her.
From the main doors atop the stairs, Yunalesca stood before them all. "Welcome to Zanarkand. I congratulate you, summoner. You have completed your pilgrimage. I will now bestow you with that which you seek. The final summoning will be yours. Now," she gestured her hand out to them all. "Choose."
Yuna had given her an odd look, not sure exactly as to what Yunalesca was meaning.
"You must choose the one whom I will change," Yunalesca explained. "to become the fayth of the final summoning."
It was strange for Melanie to have all eyes focused on her, all but Auron. He was the only one still looking at Yunalesca.
"Ah, someone who has witnessed this very moment ten years ago," Yunalesca spoke, sounding almost a bit cheery on that. "You know how it all works. You been through this before with Braska and... your father... was it?"
"This isn't important right now... I do remember the pain which you brought upon all of us..."
"Me? I only seek to offer the assistance of the summoners to require their end..."
"You mean their very life. The final aeon kills them! It does not matter the bond you would have spoke of at all! Your lover granted you what you sought and it killed you... You know why he left the statue! He became the next Sin! It never worked and you knew it... You knew this was to happen and you kept the cycle going... I am not asking why."
"And yet you let Braska do this..."
Melanie said nothing in her defense. Yunalesca was right.
"He believed in something. They all believe in a miracle. He gave his life to let his daughter see another day..."
Yunalesca returned in through the main doors and triggered another scene between the four, where Auron, ten years ago tried to tell them that Sin always came back. When Jecht said he would find another way. When he offered himself to be the final aeon for Braska. Once it was all over and Auron from back then fell to his knees in defeat, the 35 year old man had walked behind his past self and raised his blade. Before he could strike his projected self out of anger, Melanie had gotten in his way with her arms out. The past Melanie...
"And the cycle went on," is all she spoke out.
He understood now why she said that so long ago. He knew she saw this coming. The evidence was clear as day. It took him ten years to finally understand all this. Not that he didn't believe or trust her before. This only added onto his guilt. His blade was dropped to the floor with him still holding onto his end.
"We'll break it," Tidus shouted, sounding very confident in this.
"But how?" Wakka asked him. "What, you gotta plan now? Isn't that your sister's job, eh?"
"I really do want to hear what she has to say about all this," Yuna spoke out. "She has lead us this far."
Melanie shook her head. "You followed your heart here. All I did was help out along the way."
"I mean that you never gave up on me. That you know of a way how I will be able to live! That there is a way to defeat Sin for good... Your courage and hope for all that lead me this far."
"You might not want to hear what I have to say then. You know she won't help us out at all. I am prepared to fight her if it comes down to that and I won't promise you that it will be cherry blossoms and roses..."
Yuna nodded and headed on up to those main doors.
"Talking won't hurt though still, will it?" Wakka asked Melanie.
"Talk all you want... She only believes in the life and death cycle and that Sin is here for all eternity... You do realize atoning for your punishment was just a con to play on all of Spira for years and years, don't you?"
Wakka struggled to speak a word to protest against that. Surely that was the very reason, right? It's why Sin kept on coming back. Or so he thought... The hard truth was difficult for him to accept even the slightest bit. Since no words were able to form properly, he admitted defeat and followed everyone else who went passed the large doors.
"Have you made a choice?" Yunalesca asked Yuna once everyone was in her own realm.
"Do I have to make one? Isn't there another way?" Yuna almost begged.
"If you wish to defeat Sin, then yes. It is your only way, your only hope that you carry to have others happy again. Is that what you want? Like your father, he did this out of all the hope he had."
"Enough about my father!"
"But he accepted his fate. Fate brought you here."
"No, you are wrong! I made this choice. I could have never chose this path. Another would take my place and then what... They would only die, too!"
"The fate of all summoners must take... Great risks to bring the peace for only a little while... An endless cycle."
Like Yuna, anger was starting to build within Lulu. "This... is not fair!"
"Whether it's fair or not, Sin will always be reborn. There is no true defeat."
"No!" Tidus shouted, not realizing it triggered another past event to show up.
The past Auron had ran in the same place as them also spouting a no. "Where's the sense in all this? Braska believed in Yevon's teachings and died for them! Jecht believed in Braska and gave his life for him!"
"They chose to die because they had hope," the past Yunalesca told him.
The past Auron made a foul move on Yunalesca where she was able to strike first taking him off guard through his pure anger he had for her. The scene faded.
"Yevon's teachings and the final summoning give the people of Spira hope," Yunalesca continued on. "Without hope, they would drown in their sorrow. Now choose... Who will be your fayth?"
Yuna gave her a hard stare. "No one. I would have gladly died for the people of Spira. But the final summoning is a false tradition that should be thrown away."
"No," Yunalesca disagreed. "It is our only hope. It is the only way to forget sorrow."
"You let yourself become brainwashed in this mess I see," Melanie stepped in. "Personally I have had enough to keep listening to your words... They are and have always been lies! Sin is what brings the sorrow we wish gone! That was a war, very long time ago that started this whole mess and you let yourself become part of this struggle at what cost? Your life? Are you proud to become a reaper? Do you want all of Spira to die!?"
"Sorrow cannot be abolished. It is meaningless to try."
"Then I will defeat it without false hope and lies!" Yuna felt determined on this. Even if she knew there was no reaching to this dead woman who only relied on false dreams and a spiral of death.
"Poor creature... You would rather live in despair and sorrow rather than hope. Allow me to be your liberator before you drown in your own sorrow."
"There is a way to defeat Sin for good!" Melanie drew her blades. "I know of a way... Cid is going to help us!"
Everyone else drew their weapons and joined Melanie by her side.
(sorry for the late late update on this story... i sort of lost interest in the fandom itself. warning: it will be on and off... i really do want to try to complete this story.)